


Red Faced Revisited

by tooshoes



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 22:31:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5761345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tooshoes/pseuds/tooshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We have seen that Cat Grant is capable of drawing a deep seated anger from her meek employee, echoing something from her suppressed past. Here is a peek into that past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Faced Revisited

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a vignette than a story, ripped in part from my favorite Supergirl episode so far: Red Faced. That is the episode where Supergirl really loses her temper.
> 
> We also get some big insights into the nature of Kara's relationship to Cat Grant, but at the same time I feel like the episode raises even more questions. For example, why does Kara feel such a deep connection to such a pushy and often abusive boss? And why do we discover in this episode that Kara has suppressed anger towards her parents? And what was her relationship with her father like? You would think from the show that she didn't even have a father. So this short narrative is me trying to answer some of those questions.

Kara was sitting at her desk with her head in her hands. It had been another crazy day, and it was far from over. Everyone seemed to have father issues today. Alex employed Winn to help hack into the DEO to discover what had happened to Jeremiah Danvers years ago. Winn, having daddy issues of his own, reluctantly helped with the research. Then Lucy’s dad showed up, causing all kinds of stress on Lucy's relationship with James. Kara wanted to feel sympathetic and not like a selfish bitch, but a little demon inside of her was wishing hard that General Lane would take his daughter away. Right now, before Lucy could wreak havoc on the special weekly occasion that James, Winn and Kara had called “game night”. Was that wrong for Kara to wish for such things? Absolutely, she felt, but she could not stop wishing for it.

While agonizing over James and Lucy and the many local daddies that were disappointing in some way, Kara heard the gears kicking in on Cat Grant’s elevator, and her own mental gears turned sympathically. She immediately stopped thinking about difficult fathers, and started thinking about difficult mothers, as the elevator door opened. Kara swerved to walk parallel to Cat Grant, as her boss made a bee line towards her office.

Kara read rapid-fire from her tablet. “The proofs are ready. The electrician is coming in at 4 pm. And dinner with your mother is at 8. I reserved a table right on the beach.”

“Oh, great,” Cat complained casually. “Maybe the roar of the ocean will drown out the sound of her voice, or maybe it will just drown her. Or me.”

“Kitty, darling!” was the mother’s greeting as soon as Cat entered her office.

“Mother,” Cat acknowledged, then leaned over to perfunctorily kiss or hug her.

But Cat’s mom, Katherine Grant, interrupted her, as though contact with her daughter was distasteful. “Let’s not get carried away; We’ve already seen each other once today.”

Refusing to let the slight get to her, Cat responded in kind. “You’re early mother; dinner isn’t until 8.”

“Listen sweetheart, there’s been a change of plans,” Katherine replied, as if only her plans mattered. “As it turns out, Tony Morris is visiting town. Can you believe it?!”

“Oh, I’m practically shaking,” Cat replied with a sarcastic smile. Her mother disappointed her so often that Cat appreciated each new reminder of how far she had come in life without any parental support.

“He’s having an impromptu little dinner party at the house he’s renting at Montecito. Just a few old friends,” she explained.

“Mother, that is at least 2 hours away, we’ll have to leave right now,” Cat said, while mentally arranging the rest of her day.

“Oh dear,” Katherine said, as if sad to break the news. “Tony wanted to keep this an intimate gathering of close friends.”

“Oh,” Cat replied, startled by her mom’s news. Or perhaps Cat was startled that she even cared what her mother did. “I’ve cleared my evening for you.”

“Kitty,” her mom said with a mocking kind of sympathy, “what could you possibly have to talk about with two Nobel laureates and Margaret Atwood?”

Then followed a moment of silence, as Cat reflected on their long dead relationship. Finally, Cat said coolly: “Enjoy your dinner, Mother.”

Katherine took her bag and left, seeming somehow satisfied with how her visit went.

Kara, who was standing near the door, inside the office, approached Cat gently, unnoticed. She felt really touched by what she has seen, but not sure why exactly or what to say. Finally, she just said, “Ms. Grant?”

Cat was shaken out of her momentary doldrums, and re-entered her professional state easily. “Oh, where are the proofs for the revised fashion spread?”

“I have them right here” Kara handed her several proofs.

“Well thank you,” Cat replied with a glare, as if to say “about time” or “why didn’t you say so” or anything else besides being thankful.

She looked at the proofs for one second and sighed and redirected the anger she felt for her mother to the proofs. “And no! No! The filter is off. This waif model looks like a wet rat. Take it back to editing. The entire thing needs to be retouched.” She saved her final displaced anger for Kara. “And stay there until it’s finished.”

Kara stood still, wanting to do what Cat asks of her, especially since she knew Cat was hurting. But that would mean missing game night. Not that she was looking much forward to game night with Lucy there, but MUCH worse would be a game night without Kara. Then James might see how unnecessary she really was.

Her boss saw the conflict in her right away, and Cat’s anger wavered ever so slightly, as she replied with some disdain. “I’m Sorry. Do you have plans?”

Kara did not like lying to Cat, so she told the truth whenever she could, but she tried to minimize the importance of her plans that night. “It’s just this, um, office game night thing we do.”

“Office game night, Kierra, really?” Cat replied quietly, shaking her head in disappointment, then unleashed a blade she must have kept hidden for a while to use when it most especially would hurt. “Don’t you think you’ve made enough of a fool of yourself over James Olsen for one day? Everyone has noticed how you try to throw yourself at him. You should try to be a little bit more professional.”

Kara could barely contain the anger and hurt she felt, but she managed to grit her teeth and said as she exited the room, “I’ll get these to editing right away.”

But there was no way she was going to wait around until the new proofs were done. She felt a sense of urgency, rage and confusion that grew worse by the hour. Somehow it felt like everything was wrong today.

 

Krypton, years ago, weeks before that world’s end.

 

Kara was a young girl, barely 12 in Earth years, playing with her friends in the back yard. The game was especially intense today. She and her friends had all felt the sense of impending doom. There were rumors. There was a sense that everything was about to change, and not for the better. So when they played, they they played hard, as though it all really mattered. As though by playing, they were fighting to keep everything they held dear alive.

But when Kara heard her dad’s vehicle approaching outside their home, she broke from the game immediately and rushed inside to meet her dad at the door. Her friends kept on playing without her, without missing a beat. They understood. That was what a daughter was supposed to do: be at her father’s beck and call whenever he arrived home from work. It was the Kryptonian way.

Her dad Zor-El opened the door for her uncle Jor-El to enter the home first. That was what younger brothers were supposed to do for their elders, even for older brothers. Kara stood beside the door, waiting patiently while the two brothers ignored her, and talked politely about things she knew nothing about. But even Kara could hear some rawness beneath their words.

Zor-El explained calmly, “If you’d let me speak to the counsel, maybe I could add my voice to yours. You don’t need to stand there like a cornered animal.”

Jor-El’s smile looked condescending. “It would make no difference. They know it is your duty to agree with me.”

Zor-El sighed. “They know I have credentials of my own. And they know Allura has her own influence in enforcement, so having me there would also be like having her there.”

Jor-El shook his head, “Really, Zor, clinging to your wife’s coat-tails is beneath you.”

Kara’s mouth dropped. She didn’t know what they were talking about, but she knew that was crossing some kind of line.

There was a pause, and she thought her father might actually punch her uncle.

But he reined it in and sighed. “All right, have it your way. But there is a lot more at stake here than…”

“Than what?” Jor-El challenged him. Zor-El just shook his head, so Jor-El continued. “How are the pods coming.“

Kara’s dad suddenly looked concerned. “I don’t know. They are coming along fine if we just have the time. But that’s the big question.”

“You need to get your workers to move faster,” Jor-El said sternly.

Zor-El replied defensively, “They are already working day and night, and frankly I’m having trouble motivating them. But I trust them, and I don’t trust anyone new we might hire. The only way we can move faster is if you have your workers join them.”

Jore-El shook his head, “We’ve been over this. My workers would immediately be suspected. That’s another reason you can’t be on the counsel. They are scrutinizing everything. They deny evidence right in front of their eyes, but consider anyone taking precautions traitors. They really are losing their minds. Maybe Astra is right after-all.”

Zor-El shook his head firmly. “Don’t even think that.”

Jor-El sighed. “I know, but I understand her frustration.”

Zor-El nodded, and seemed to relax a bit. At last they found something they could agree on, and he wanted to end on that note. “Don’t you need to get back to the counsel right now?”

Jor-El nodded, “For what good it’s worth.”

Zor-El led Kara’s uncle to the door, “Please make them listen, brother.”

As soon as the door closed behind uncle Jor-El, Kara felt awkward, just standing there, as though she had been spying on her dad.

“What have you been doing all day?” Zor-El asked his 12 year old daughter. “Your clothes are in disarray.”

“My friends are here,” Kara replied. “We were just playing Zoomron out back.”

Zor-El tensed as he shook his head, “No, there is no more time for this. You are a young woman now. This looks bad. You need to prove your worth. Send your friends home.”

“But I’ve already done all of my chores,” Kara complained, feeling the need now more than ever to escape into play with her friends.

“Then go babysit for Kal-El, so his mother can see your worth,” he said sternly, pointing his finger at Kara. “Play time is over for good.”

Kara stormed out of the room with anger on her brow and tears in her eyes. When playing with her friends, she felt free and brave and in control, but being Zor-El’s dutiful daughter, she often felt like she was nothing at all.

She heard her father continue talking quietly as she left, almost in a whisper: “Over for all of us.”

 

National City, present time

 

Each day and every hour was feeling worse than the last. Kara felt like she was blamed for everything under the sun, and she couldn’t be sure she didn’t deserve at least a share of the blame. She was being pulled in every direction at once.

As she arrived at Catco, she could hear her boss screaming out her carelessly mispronounced name (“Kiera!”), pulling Kara into her office.

“Yes, yes, I’m here,” Kara says breathlessly as she ran into the room, worrying about what she would be blamed for now.

“Finally,” her boss says, like a cat finding a mouse she can enjoy batting around with her paws. “I’ve been screaming your name over and over for the past minute and a half. 90 seconds I have been boiling alive in my office. Ninety seconds, each one of which, if to reflect my earnings, is worth more than your yearly salary. One second of my time is 90 times more valuable than your pointless sad pathetic…”

Every insult was pumped into Kara’s heart already swollen from a steady barrage of blame, uncaring, disappointment and poisoned dreams until it finally burst in an explosion of honesty:

“Don’t talk to me like that, please! I work so hard for you! I don’t ask questions, I don’t complain, and all you do is yell at me and tell me I’m not good enough! And it’s mean! Why are you so mean?!”

When the explosion subsided, Kara found herself staring into Cat’s curiously blank but hard stare, and the potential fallout rushed into her imagination. “Oh my god!” she said, covering her mouth in amazement bordering on shame. She lost her temper. Again. Panic rushed through her, as though what she said was unforgivable, as though she would never have a chance to make up for it. “I didn’t mean that, I, uh, don’t know what happened, I just snapped.”

“Shhh!” Cat raised a finger to her mouth, stopping Kara from embarrassing herself further. “Forward the phones. We’re going out for drinks.”

 

Krypton, days before the end.

 

Something was definitely wrong. It was bad, and everybody knew it. Many of Kara’s neighbors pretended like it was nothing, an abundance of caution, and the fear would disintegrate with just a little patience and trust in humanity or in Rao. But Kara saw markets close down completely. She saw emotionally secure adults break into tears. She saw her own parents acting like strangers. Yes, this was really bad.

So Kara tried to be a good girl even when she was not allowed to be with her friends, even though she wanted to be with them now more than ever. They needed each other to get through these hard times. Instead she was stuck taking care for Kal-El all day, every day. She did not understand why this was her job. Kal-El had his own mom, and Jor-El even seemed to agree that Lara should be taking care of him.

But not her own dad. One day while Kara was bouncing the baby boy up and down to cheer him up, Zor-El lost it.

“Be more careful, Kara!” he said, snatching Kal-El away from her. “How many times do I have to tell you to be gentle? He’s a baby! Stop thinking about yourself all the time, instead of being such a brat! You keep screwing up, and you’ll end up ruining everything! You’ll break your mother’s heart, and Jor-El will hate you, and…”

“SHUT UP!” Kara yelled, covering her ears and eyes, unable to take the yelling anymore. “I tried my best! Why do you hate me?! I hate you! I hate everyone!”

Then Kara ran out of the house and ran as far as she could until she was lost. And that was just fine by her.

Krypton, hours before the end

Zor-El and Allura had searched for Kara for days—days that they really could not spare. When they found her, she hid from them. She was dirty, and hunger and anger had consumed all of her energy for so long she was just skin and bones. Shame flowed through her blood instead of oxygen. She no longer hated her father or anyone else. Now she only hated herself.

She heard her father apologizing as they hurried back home, but she did not believe him. How could he be sorry. She was such a screw-up. She was an insubordinate who said she hated him. She was worthless.

She didn’t understand why they were in such a hurry, and when they arrived, she didn’t understand why they were not at home. Instead they were at the building where her father worked, surrounded by engineers, her parents, and Kal-El’s parents. But no Kal-El.

Jor-El shouted as they arrived. “Cutting it awfully close, brother.”

Zor-El ignored him and hurried Kara to a capsule on a stand.

Jor-El did not like being ignored: “Look at her, she’s a wreck! And clearly she’s immature, running away from her responsibilities like that. We can’t trust her to look after Kal-El. We should send Lara instead.”

Zor-El turned with fury in his eyes. “NO! My family sacrificed, too! Hell, so did all of my workers, and you want to steal my craft for your family?”

Jor-El stood back, startled. “Then send Allura. I’m not trying to be greedy about this. I just want Kal-El to have a fighting chance.”

Zor-El softened. “Your son will be fine. This whole thing was my fault. I pushed Kara too hard. She’s a good girl. She will do her duty, as long as she knows she has our support. Besides, it is our fault that everything got so screwed up. But not the children. They are the ones that deserve to go on.”

Kara felt lost with all of the arguing going on around her, but one thing she did understand was that her parents were preparing to send her away only hours after finding her. “Dad? Mom? What is going on? I don’t want to leave.”

Allura kneeled down in front of Kara and tried to soothe her. “Unfortunately, my beloved daughter, we all have to leave. But we won’t all be going to the same place.”

National City, present time

After Kara lost her temper with Cat earlier, her boss recognized that her petty, meaningless insults were not the cause of Kara’s outburst. But they had triggered some latent rage and anguish inside of her timid employee. The best thing about Kara as an employee was that she could handle all of Cat’s own rage issues and deflect her emotional darts, but once Cat saw those darts hit their target, she had to set her employee straight the old fashioned way -- over a few drinks.

Kara didn’t believe anything was wrong, at first. Cat had just gotten to her, like she had gotten to many other employees before her. But then Kara had just beat the crap out of an automobile posing as a punching bag, and then let the rage burn so brightly through her eyes that she destroyed a villain that seemed indestructible. Then Kara realized that Cat was right, and now it was triggering all sorts of memories. In some ways, the revelations were enlightening, but they were also scary. Maybe she should see a therapist about this. But what sort of therapist could she trust with all of her secrets?

Kara was mulling through several emotions as she returned to work.

“There she is,” Cat’s mom confronted Kara as she arrived at Cat’s office. “My car was supposed to be here half an hour ago.”

“Oh…” Kara replied, surprised. “I didn’t realize I was getting you one.”

“How else am I supposed to get to the airport?” She turned to face her daughter. “Honestly, Kitty, is this creature of yours some sort of unpaid intern? How do you justify paying a salary to such an unreliable person?”

Cat faced her mother and took off her blinders. She was annoyed to see so much of her herself  in her mother, but she would no longer let her anger at her mother poison a relationship with Kara, for whom she was becoming quite fond. “First of all, I don’t pay Kara very much. And second: you don’t get to talk to her that way.”

“Excuse me?” came the predictable disbelief.

“I understand, Mother, that you have always been threatened by my success, and you try to elevate yourself by denigrating me, which is fine.” Cat explained while approaching her mother to look her in the face. “But you are not allowed to do the same thing to my assistant, who, by the way, is excellent at her job.

Katherine was left speechless, and her confidence shattered. She muttered as she hurried out the door. “I think I’ll use the ladies before I go.”

Kara smiled. She was not merely grateful, but she also felt a pain was instantly erased from her soul. “Thank you for saying I’m excellent at my job. It made me feel normal.”

“It was just for effect. Get me advil.”

Kara smiled again with a shrug. Their relationship fell neatly back into place, with Cat bossing her around just like always. But nothing would ever be quite the same again.

 


End file.
